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Simon Grayson: Sunderland need winning mentality

Sunderland manager Simon Grayson has urged his team to develop a winning mentality as they aim to book a place in the third round of the Carabao Cup against Carlisle.

Many of the squad that lost 28 of their 43 fixtures last season are still at the Stadium of Light and Grayson wants to banish the long-standing negativity that surrounds the club.

Grayson was beaten for the first time as Black Cats boss on Saturday – losing 2-0 to former club Leeds - and whilst he plans to make changes against the League Two team he’s keen to progress to the last 32 of the competition, where the clubs involved in European competition enter the draw.

“We don’t want to give away opportunities to win matches because it’s a good feeling, a good habit to have that winning mentality.

“A lot of the players have suffered a lot of negativity and defeats over a period of time but it’s about winning as many games as possible and getting that feel good factor amongst the players, the supporters and everybody connected with the club again.”